Death?
by Dr. Michaela Quinn
Summary: When 14 year old Angela Robinson loses her father suddenly to a heart attack, it only takes a split second for Angela to go from care free teenager to breadwinner and sole responsibility for her family. This explains a little bit of why Angela's the way she is. Not suggested for children!


**A/N: I can't remember if they ever said how Angela's father died, I thought they said a heart attack once. P.O.V- 14 year old Angela Robinson.**

It was about nine thirty in the morning. I was sitting in my algebra class when the door opened. There stood my school principal and a woman I had seen many times. She was the secretary at my father's office. What was she doing here? My teacher walked over to them and they spoke in real hushed voices. Finally my teacher looked back at me.

"Miss Robinson, can you come here?" I stood up and walked over to them terrified to hear what they were about to tell me even though I was pretty sure I already knew.

"Your mother wants to see you immediately Angela." Daddy's secretary stated.

"Where's daddy?" I asked. She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Your mother wants to tell you." She replied. She coughed twice to try and regain her voice above a whisper. I was free to leave school and I headed to daddy's office. When we got there mother was sitting on a chair in the lobby crying. Her face was the color of her hair.

"Mother?" I asked carefully as I approached her. She looked up at me and looked into my eyes for several minutes before I looked away. I sat down next to her and after a few minutes I felt her hair fall over onto my shoulder. She had wrapped her arm around me. We sat that way for a long time. I could feel her shaking as she cried. I cried for her. Finally, she pulled away from me. Mother moved my hair away from my face and took my face in the palm of her hand.

"Angela, your… your father had a heart attack." Mother could barely spit out. My heart skipped a beat. Was he alright? Where was he? People survive heart attacks every day. What wasn't she telling me?

"Where is he? He'll be okay, won't he?" I squeaked. Mother closed her eyes tightly and shook her head no.

"He's gone Angela. He passed away." I swallowed hard. This was my biggest fear. My father died. He is what held our family together and now he was gone. Mother didn't work; she stayed home and took care of me and daddy. He did everything for her and I don't know what will happen now. What are we going to do to survive? I started crying uncontrollably. Mother hugged me tightly and ran her hand over my head and brushed her fingers through my hair.

"I know Angela. Let it out." Mother said soothingly as she cried. "Just let it out."

We sat there for quite a while without saying anything. Mother and I just cried together. She held me close to her chest and I laid my head on her shoulder and she put her forehead on top of my head. She didn't say anything, but I could tell she was still crying by the dampness of my hair. After a little while of sitting sit and letting the news sink in I couldn't breathe. I had to go blow my nose and get a drink. I stirred in the seat and mother took her chin off of my head.

"What's the matter dear?" She asked quietly. I stood up slowly and turned to face her.

"I… I just need to blow my nose and get a drink." I replied. I walked away from her and headed to the water fountain and got a drink. Then I splashed some water in my face hoping that it wasn't true. I would come out of this fog and daddy would be just fine and mother would be at home waiting for me after school like always. But, soon I realized it was a lost cause trying to do that. I went into the bathroom and got some toilet paper and blew my nose really hard. I was finally able to breathe a little bit again. I threw away the toilet paper and walked out of the bathroom. I stood there in the doorway. I have always liked this bathroom because it's in a cubby. I could see mother sitting on the couch; but she couldn't see me. I watched her for a while and she sat there and cried. She shook and cried. It was so sad to watch. After a few minutes, I walked from the bathroom and over to her. I hugged her and she looked up at me.

"We'll be okay mother." I said confidently. She nodded. Mother put her hand on my upper arm.

"We're going to be fine Angela." Mother responded. I sat next to her and put my head on her shoulder again. I put my hand on top of hers.

"I'm going to take care of you. You won't have to worry about anything. I'll handle it." I stated and then sat there quietly as mother kissed the top of my head and silently cried.

[

After a while, I got up and walked from the lobby of the office into my father's actual office. It looked like had when he left on Saturday evening. My father was a business man. He worked in the financial department of a company. Mother and I used to come visit him on Saturdays. Mother would ask him to not spend as much time at the office and I would look out the windows and then daddy's secretary would always take me out of the office and downtown to get an ice cream when that happened because my parents would fight. They always thought I didn't know, but I knew they did. I know mother and daddy loved each other, his work was just important to him; but so were mother and I. I climbed up into his chair and leaned my head up against it and closed my eyes. I could still smell my father's cologne on the chair. I was there for quite a while. I might have even fallen asleep because it seemed like just a little while later Mother walked in and came over to me. She put her hands on the side of daddy's chair and smiled at me.

"Come on Angela. It's getting late. We should be going home." She said. I stood up quietly and walked away from the chair. Before I turned off the light I looked back at the chair and could envision my father sitting there like he had been just two days before.

"Bye daddy." I said quietly and then turned off the light and closed the door behind me.


End file.
